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The Singing Zikr of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan was documented
in a rather customary (and perhaps incorrect) westernized scale by his brother Mahboob as:

To illustrate the westernized melody as shown above, the following link is a
brief instrumental excerpt from the CD called Zikar - the
Singing Zikar of Hazrat Inayat Khan, composed by Pir Hidayat
Inayat Khan:

For proper pronunciation of the phrase, it may be useful to note
that the "e" and "el" indicated in the written
transliteration are not pronounced at all like the sound of the "e"
in the Spanish word "el", but rather (depending upon the
regional dialect of the speaker) typically are spoken more like
the "ee" in "feet" or perhaps the "i"
in "it".

For some further clues regarding the use, and misuse, of the
transliteration "el", please see:

And, as the ultimate reference for the manner in which Pir-o-Murshid
actually pronounced the phrase, here is a portion of a rare recording
of Pir-O-Murshid Inayat Khan singing the phrase lā ilāha illā allāh:

The earliest known written notation of the entire Singing Zikr
was handwritten in April, 1921 by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan for
one of his students, Saida van Tuyll. (The additional text beneath
Pir-o-Murshid's notation of the music was written by Saida van
Tuyll.)

Interestingly, in this rendering of the song there is no flat
on the second note (the note with the "e" above it). There
are two schools of thought on this issue: On one hand, the missing
flat could simply be an oversight, or, on the other hand, perhaps
the flat on the second note was deliberately omitted. Each of these
explanations has its own proponents.

If the omission was accidental, then we simply have the same
music as described above by Mahboob. Or, if the omission was deliberate,
then the resulting scale, while odd by Western standards, is well
known in India as Rag Bhairavi, and is the only Raga form intended
to be sung at any time of the day or night.

It seems most likely that the Zikr was originally introduced
in the style as shown above in Inayat Khan's own handwriting,
but the Indian scheme of having a natural 2nd in the ascending scale
and a flat 2nd in the descending scale was too difficult for his
Western students, so the ascending natural 2nd (D as written above)
was changed to a flat 2nd (D-flat as shown in Mahboob's version),
which is much easier for those accustomed to Western music. And,
interestingly, both of these styles are Rag Bhairavi.

As some further evidence that the natural 2nd in the ascending
scale was in fact Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan's preferred form,
here is an exercise which he gave to Rabia Martin in May 1911, shown
here in his own handwriting:

Note that this is exactly the same melody as the first line of
the Zikr which Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan gave to Saida van Tuyll
some 10 years later, clearly with no flat on the second note in
either of these renderings.

To illustrate the difference in sound between these two
different versions of Rag Bhairavi, here are two brief
recordings of Pir Shabda Kahn and Murshida Leilah Be singing the
two subtly different versions of the Zikr of Hazrat Inayat Khan.
(Note that the pronunciation of the zikr phrase in these
following two renderings follows Samuel Lewis' rather odd
pronunciation, so while these recording are a great way to hear
the intended melody, they may not be very good examples of
proper pronunciation.):

Hazrat Inayat Khan was a Classical Indian
Musician. In order to have a Zikr that people could sing any
time of day he had to choose Rag Bhairavi which is the only
Raga you can sing anytime night and day.

The extraordinary
characteristics of Bhairavi are that even though the principle
notes are all the flat notes, flat 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th all
the pitches are allowed in the way that is appropriate for Bhairavi.
It is a very natural feature of Bhairavi to have a natural 2nd
in the ascent and flat 2nd in the descent.

Further,
the form of singing the Zikr is 2 times the 'low' melody'
once the 'high' melody and once the 'low' melody.
This follows the form of the simplest rhythmic cycle in Indian
Classical music, namely Teental (16 beat cycle), where the third
set of four beats is different than the other three and is called 'kali'
(empty).

To me it is clear Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote the
Zikr with a natural 2nd in the ascendant and when he tried to
teach it, it was too difficult for the students to do on their
own without more music training. I have had this same experience
teaching many times!

Pir Shabda Kahn

Regardless of the exact details, through some long-forgotten
chain of events, we are twice blessed to have inherited two versions
of this magnificent zikr... which offers a delightful opportunity
to explore the subtle difference in sound and discover through your
own experience which version best suits your heart.

Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing,
there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

Rumi -- Essential Rumi, by Coleman Barks

Wishing you love, harmony and beauty, wahiduddin

Note: For additional information about the
musical career and other music by Hazrat Inayat Khan please see
the article, as well as the footnotes and links at the bottom of
the page at: hik_music_bio.htm